198 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
APRIL, 1916 
To Own a Greenhouse 
The Wise Course 
if you have a limited purse is to hire an or- 
ganization which avoids extravagance and 
features economy and speed. 
The reputation we have gained in forty-five 
years for fast work is only to be equalled by 
our reputation for fine work and the particular 
feature of our service is that we can give both 
at the same time at a minimum of cost. 
Each Metropolitan Greenhouse is built to 
fill individual requirements. 
_ We ask nothing but the privilege of confer- 
ing with you before you make your decision. 
We carry the largest stock in the country of Single 
and Double Light Hotbed Sash and Cold Frames 
for tmmediate shipment. 
We go anywhere in the U. S. to 
submit plans and prices 
METROPOLITAN MATERIAL COMPANY 
Patented Greenhouses 
| 1388-1418 Metropolitan Avenue BROOKLYN, N. Y. 
Sunken Path House ; Bench House 
YOUR GARDEN NEEDS | 
IMMEDIATE ATTENTION 
GIVE IT FIRST AID! 
Glass in the form of hot-beds, cold frames or a small, ready- 
made greenhouse must be provided promptly if you would 
have early vegetables or early flowers, for home use or to sell, 
when they are worth most. 
SUNLIGHT DOUBLE 
GLAZED SASHES 
are the best, quickest and least expensive to operate. They 
last a lifetime and are complete in themselves. The air space 
between the two layers of glass eliminates the need for mats 
and shutters and makes earlier and stronger plants. 
Shipment is made the day your order is received. 
Get our free catalog. If you want Prof. Massey’s Booklet on 
Hot-Bed and Greenhouse Gardening, enclose 4 cents in stamps. 
SUNLIGHT DOUBLE 
GLASS SASH CO. 
927 E. Broadway 
Louisville Ky. 
DIAMOND 
BRAND 
DIAMOND BRAND “> 
COMPOST, 
WELL ROTTED HORSE MANURE 
Dried—Ground—Odorless 
It is free from weed seeds, largely Humus and rich in plant foods 
which are immediately available. Give your lawns a coating of 
Compost this Spring—need not be raked off—it will hold the mois- 
ture during the Summer and keep the grass green. Use it in your 
vegetable and flower gardens. A Large Grower aptly says: ‘‘Stable 
Manure is the only thing that supplies all the needs for truck gar- 
dening, greenhouses, and lawns, with one application. _ 
Put up in bags 100 lbs. each. Write for circular ‘‘C’’ and prices. 
N. Y. Stable Manure Co., 273 Washington St., Jersey City, N. J. 
| 
.on tomatoes. 
S Beer greenhouse, 
during April, 
should be crowded 
from floor to peak 
with hundreds of va- 
rieties of plants for 
all purposes — seed- 
lings for the flower 
garden and vegetable 
garden ; Ded ae 
plants for the forma 
garden; cuttings and 
seedlings of various 
plants for next win- 
ter’s supply of flowers in the greenhouse; bulbs 
being started for summer flowers in the green- 
house; some high quality Water-lilies for the 
pool in the garden. é 
There is no excuse for plants not doing well 
in the greenhouse at this season of the year. 
During the short days of winter, all forcing 
lants require close watching, and any errors 
in cultivation are liable to result disastrously ; 
but during April the plants feel the effects of 
a real “growing atmosphere.” Little fire heat 
is required; the plants have an abundance of 
fresh air because of increased ventilation; a 
little carelessness in overwatering, while not 
advisable, will do no harm. 
Many easily grown bulbows plants that can 
be forced in the greenhouse during the summer 
should be started at this time. One of the very 
earliest blue flowers is the blue Achimenes; 
the Tuberous Begonia is very showy and makes 
a fine pot plant; for yellow flowers during sum- 
mer, try the Yellow Calla, which does excep- 
tionally well in the greenhouse in summer but 
does not amount to much as a winter forcing 
plant. The gorgeous Gloxinia has no competi- 
tor for richness of color, and cold storage Lily 
bulbs can also be forced. 
All these and many others are summer possi- 
bilities for the greenhouse. Potted fruits are 
also recommended. No special house is re- 
quired, the plants 
yield quick returns, 
and the fruit is of a 
very high quality. The 
trees should be started 
now so as to be fin- 
ished and out of the 
way before fall opera- 
tions start. Apples, 
pears, peaches, grapes, 
in fact all forcing 
fruits are possible; or 
a crop of melons can 
be started. A few 
lants of the English 
rame cucumbers will 
supply the family 
with fresh, crisp cu- 
cumbers all season, or 
you can concentrate 
In the line of pres- 
ent spring work, all 
cuttings possible 
should be made of the 
various spring hed- 
ding plants, such as 
Coleus, Geraniums, 
Alternanthera, Achyr- 
anthus, ete. Cut- 
tings: should also be 
made now of a num- 
ber of various plants 
for next winter’s sup- 
ply of flowers in the 
greenhouse. Use cut- 
tings of Gardenias, Hydrangeas, Pelargonium, 
Paris Daisy, Swainsona, Stevia, Fuchsia, etc., 
for the purpose. These plants are usually 
grown along in pots after the cuttings have 
rooted. A big batch of Chrysanthemum cut- 
tings should be “struck” now. April cuttings 
produce very fine flowers. 
You will need some “greens” to arrange with 
the cut flowers next winter. Start them now. 
Smilax, Asparagus plumosa and Sprengeri, are 
good and should be planted in the benches. You 
can also utilize what would otherwise be waste 
space by planting under the benches, but on 
the edge of the walk, a number of the hardy 
Ferns, such as the Pteris, Polypodium, Cyrto- 
mium, Aspidium, Blechnum, ete., which are 
excellent for cutting and last well. 
The greenhouse should be simply bulging 
“Standing room only’’! 
Making the Greenhouse Really 
Pay Its Way—W. C. McCollom 
\ 
Strawberries in pots on the 
shelf; Carnations in the rear bench; boxes of seed- 
lings ; Chrysanthemums for fall flowers, etc. 
with all kinds of 
seedlings for the out- 
door garden. The 
seeds are sown in 
boxes or pans and 
when the seedlings are 
large enough they are 
transferred to other 
boxes or prepates 
beds, planted about 
two inches apart. 
Small sticks, ‘“dib- 
bles,’ are used for 
this purpose. 
If you haven’t already sown flower seeds, do 
so at once. Sow Ageratum, Balsam, bedding 
Begonia, Calendula, Clarkia, Lavatera, Petunia, 
Salpiglossis, Verbena, Zinnia, Wallflower, Arc- 
totis, Aster, Amaranthus, Marguerite Carna- 
tion, Celosia, Cockseomb, annual Chrysanthe- 
mum, Dianthus, Gaillardia, Heliotrope, Kochia, 
Forget-me-not, Salvia, Scabiosa, Nasturtium, 
and Castor Oil, in pots, ete. 
Vegetable seedlings should have been started 
a little earlier, but if you have not done so, 
ou can sow at once celery, cabbage, cauliflower, 
ettuce, tomatoes (cucumber, watermelon and 
muskmelons in pots), eggplant, peppers and, 
if you have the space, a few pots of early dwarf 
corn similar to Golden Bantam. These can be 
set out in May and will beat by at least two 
weeks the outside sown corn. 
For plants to force in the greenhouse for 
next winter’s use, sow seed now of such plants 
as the Plumed Celosia, Heliotrope, Antirrhinum, 
Canterbury Bells, Salpiglossis and Primulas, 
all of which are potted up when large enough 
to handle and are carried over the summer in 
pots in a coldframe. They can be benched in the 
greenhouse during early fall, excepting the 
Primula, which is a pot plant, and the Canter- 
bury Bell, which is left in a frame or storage 
pit until midwinter, as it is a cropper and not 
a continuous flowering plant like the others. 
You should also 
have in your green- 
house collection some 
of the tropical flower- 
ing vines. They will 
occupy very little 
Space if properl 
trained on the nort 
end or side of the 
greenhouse, and will 
not shade the other 
plants. These vines 
can all be propagated 
from cuttings made 
now and are rapid 
growers: Allamanda, 
having one of the best 
of all yellow flowers; 
sweet scented Jas- 
mine; showy Plum- 
bago; the odd _ but 
pretty Aristolochia; 
the exquisite Lapage- 
ria; and the highly 
perfumed Stephanotis. 
All the hard-wooded 
forcing plants used in 
the greenhouse during 
winter require some 
attention at this time. 
They are usually 
lunged out of doors 
ate this month. Im- 
mediately after flower- 
ing, the plants should 
be rested completely 
to ripen up the wood, and those that require it 
should be repotted. Plants of this class are the 
Acacia, Genista, Wisteria, Lilac, Clematis, 
Azalea, Deutzia, etc. ‘ 
There are a number of perennials from seed 
which, if started now, will flower this season. 
These should be grown along briskly in the 
greenhouse until they can be set out toward the 
end of May. The single Hollyhock, Pentstemon, 
Delphinium, and several of the Rudbeckias will 
all Higwer! In fact, all perennials can be started 
in this manner and about 50 per cent. of the 
plants will flower the first season. , 
If you want to keep the Carnation in good 
condition, the house should be shaded with a 
slat trellis of some description. Plant out-doors 
late in the month the young plants for next 
winter’s supply of flowers. 
